Ramaphosa issues veiled attack against Trump at opening of G20 Summit

In what seemed like a veiled attack against the United States and its president Donald Trump, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday warned against diminishing the credibility of the G20 Summit being hosted in South Africa.

He was speaking at the opening of the two-day meeting in Nasrec, Johannesburg, where heads of state are gathered.

South Africa’s tensions with Trump ahead of G20 Summit

His comments come amid tensions with Trump, who has attempted to discredit South Africa’s participation in the G20.

In a recent meeting in Miami, Trump alluded to South Africa being a communist state and questioned the country’s inclusion in the G20.

“We have a G20 meeting in South Africa. South Africa should not even be in the Gs anymore because what is happening there is bad. I am not going, I told them I am not going. I am not going to represent our country there,” he said.

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Ramaphosa on not allowing G20 to be diminished

But Ramaphosa appeared to oppose Trump’s posture towards South Africa’s G20 presidency in his speech.

“We should not allow anything to diminish the value and the stature and the impact of the first G20 African presidency.

“This G20 Leaders’ Summit has the responsibility not to allow the integrity and the credibility of the G20 to be weakened. From this summit, we should have a sense that the G20 has been strengthened,” he said.

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The theme South Africa has chosen for this year’s meeting is ‘Solidarity, Sustainability and Equality’.

Ramaphosa said this meeting carries the hopes and aspirations of many people in the world.

“As this is the first G20 Leaders’ Summit to be held in Africa, it carries the hopes and must reflect the aspirations of the people of this continent and of the world,” he said.

Ramaphosa praises multilateralism

Ramaphosa thanked countries that have worked closely with South Africa to make the G20 and its discussions a success.

“The G20 underscores the value of relevance of multilateralism. It recognises that the challenges that we face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership.

“The adoption of the declaration from the summit sends an important signal to the world that multileralism can and does deliver.

“It sends a message of hope and solidarity across the world, it tells the world that as the leaders of the G20 we will keep our solemn pledge to leave no person, no community and no country behind,” he said.

“With those words, I declare the G20 Leaders’ Summit open,” he added.

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